Faster
by Cupid's Nightmare
Summary: All friendships have their ups and downs. Ikki would like to think he has more ups with Kazu but things seem to be proving differently.


**Faster**

A/N: This is actually my first poke into writing Air Gear. And I know that the end of the chapter ends in a completely different mood from the beginning. It spawned from an original writing sprint and turned into a piece about Kazu. And then...Winamp jumped from Kenn and the Nabs to Kaiser Chiefs to SuperJunior-H to 'Do Your Best' from Tenimyu. Thusly, this is a strange piece, but I intend to continue it. I think. Since I'm moving in a few days, who knows if I'll get a chance to continue.

* * *

Faster, faster, faster. His lungs were burning, his muscles were burning, his eyes were burning. Faster, faster, faster. He'd been going for mere seconds, minutes, hours. Faster, faster, faster. Or had it been days, weeks, months? Faster, faster, faster. He couldn't stop if he wanted to, needed to, decided to. Faster, faster, faster. Pushing himself, dragging himself, making himself move. Faster, faster, faster. He could hear them telling him to stop, scolding him, crying for him. Faster, faster, faster. Would anyone really cry, mourn, bemoan the loss of his life if he were to die? Faster, faster, faster. He was straining himself, going beyond his limits, running on fumes. Faster, faster, faster. But the endorphins gave him a rush, gave him a good feeling, gave him the mental power to go on. Faster, faster, faster. And then it was over, it was done, it was the end. Faster, faster, faster. He jumped off into nothing, twisting through the air and even though he was falling, it felt like flying. Faster, faster, faster. And this time, he landed on his own two feet without help from anyone else. Faster, faster, faster. But the endorphins settled and there was no more power to be had.

* * *

"Mikura-saaaaaaan!"

Kazu's sister sighed, looking down from the balcony. "What is it, Ikki-kun?"

"Is Kazu feeling any better? Is he coming to school next week?"

Ikki really was like an excited child in a candy store today, so the woman decided to have mercy on him.

"Why don't you come in and see him? He's been laid up in bed all week…dying to see you guys but you never stop by. The door's open."

"We elite members of society are busy, y'know, Mikura-san." Ikki removed his ATs and headed for the door, leaving Kazu's sister to ponder those words.

The loud footsteps alerted her to the fact that the Crow was headed straight for her brother's room. She just hoped Kazu was up to having a visitor. He'd been unsettlingly quiet since the night Ikki and Onigiri had called from the hospital. He ate when she sat and watched him but the food remained untouched otherwise. She'd been so desperate to see him back to normal that she'd bought him porn. She'd gotten one of Those Looks from the lady attendant in the shop. The porn was lying, unopened, on his desk.

Maybe Ikki could help…

"GET THE HELL OUT."

Or not. Though yelling was better than silence.

"Wha – Why? What did I do, Kazu?" Ikki asked, closing the door behind him and successfully making sure that the older Mikura couldn't hear the conversation.

"Oh…" Kazu's head emerged from his pile of blankets. "I thought you were…never mind."

"You thought I was…?" Ikki dragged Kazu's rickety desk chair over to the bed and straddled it. "Someone been bothering you? You should tell me."

Kazu stared at Ikki for a full minute before pulling the covers back over his head. Evidently, he thought Ikki was stupid for not knowing the answer to his own question. Ikki wasn't too happy with that thought. Kazu was supposed to be his loyal friend to the end, he wasn't supposed to leave him hanging like that. It wasn't fair.

"Kazu. Come on, man, you can't ignore me forever."

Huddled under his covers, Kazu was biting on his bottom lip. Ikki was right, he couldn't ignore him forever. But he could try, as long as he didn't have to see Ikki's face. The Crow had such an earnest 

expression that it threw every thought of rebellion Kazu ever had. His only solution was to stay under the cover until Ikki got hungry. Then Ikki would leave, he reasoned, unless his sister invited the guy to stay. Come to think of it, that was probably going to be the case. He groaned and lowered the blanket to just under his eyes.

Ikki was giving him the earnest look. Crap. It was even the expectant edition. That meant Kazu had to come up with something to say. And fast. That expression was going to be the death of him if he didn't. So he mumbled and looked the other way quickly.

"_Him_? Your sister let him into your _house_?! That...stupid Clock?!" Ikki hollered, trying to jump to his feet. He ended up just throwing Kazu's chair over and falling onto the bed.

Kazu wondered if his head was really starting to pound or if he just thought it was. Or maybe he needed to take another pill. With Ikki's fits, he could never really tell. And there was the newly-blooming pain just under his ribs, where Ikki's elbow was digging in. That elbow didn't seem to be moving, either. Kazu whipped his elbow up against Ikki's ribs in return. The blankets probably restrained how hard the blow was but Ikki scrambled up and glared. And then continued on his rant.

Kazu watched Ikki stomp about, hands gesticulating wildly, and fumbled with the box of painkillers. He swallowed one dry. It only took a few minutes for the pain to clear enough that Kazu could

"Scratch what I said! _You_ let him into the house? That…that pervert?! He did stuff, didn't he?"

The still-present pain in his ribs and the high from the painkillers – combined with his reluctance to discuss his unwanted visitor with this new unwanted visitor – was making Kazu irritable. "Stuff? A lady's man like you can't explain what that's supposed to mean? Some of us are still unexperienced in the ways of sex."

"…" Ikki opened his mouth, wagging his finger, then stopped. He didn't really have a response to that. So he flopped over Kazu's stomach again. "Shut up, man. I'm just looking out for you."

Kazu sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Don't sweat it…" Grinning, he nudged Ikki. "Besides, he didn't do any 'stuff'. He was all creepy but never actually did anything, even though I was completely and utterly defenceless. A total damsel in distress."

"Dude, I want those painkillers you're taking." Ikki laughed. "Everything coming out of your mouth is total bullshit."

For some reason, Ikki's laughter made Kazu laugh and soon enough, he was trying to muffle the sounds into his pillow. The blanket had been pulled back over his head for reasons he couldn't later expand on. Ikki had to right the chair and collapse onto it because Kazu was shaking too much for him to be comfortable. He only managed to tip the chair over again and landed hard on his back. Still, he laughed more loudly than before and Kazu cocooned himself completely, laughs and coughs mingling to make an odd sort of sound.

Kazu's sister found them like that fifteen minutes later. She shook her head. "I'll bring dinner for you boys. Try not to choke."

She got no reply. She had a feeling that they hadn't even heard her in the first place. Boys were so strange.

* * *

A/N: ConCrit is much appreciated. Not sure where this is going but it'll be a while before the next part is up, if there is a next part. If there is, it'll be up after August 15th.


End file.
